Chapter 1: Waking up in another world

"Hm... how should I write the ending?" I thought to myself while-Oops! Sorry, I forgot to introduce myself. My name is Zara Lopez. I live in New York, USA, and I'm a friendless 20-year-old who is a workaholic thanks to my boss, who seems to believe that none of his workers has a life outside of work. too much? Sorry. I'm a writer, and I was working on a story. Even if it is a touch cliche, this is what my employer wants. I continued to ponder over how I should conclude this narrative. By the time I was done, it was already 3 in the morning. I plopped onto my bed and thought to myself, "Oh how much I'd love to be the female lead in my tale; how wonderful would that be...". With that, I went to sleep.

I woke up in an unfamiliar room that looked like it belonged to a royal. Hurriedly getting out of bed, I was struck by someone else's likeness in the mirror. Long, silky raven hair and sharp, bright, iris-coloured eyes complemented her almost snow-white complexion. "Oh my gosh!" I shouted, realizing I had become Iris Winston! Her vain, selfish, shallow character is in contrast to the pure, innocent, and sweet Kingdom of Arcelia. She is the villain in my story and is destined to die! Someone knocked on the door unexpectedly, and I said, "Come in!" Iris' maid, Yeona, one of the few people close to her, was standing there when the door opened. She had mid-length wine-coloured hair pulled back into a simple ponytail; wide, bright olive-green eyes; and freckles. "Should I prepare your bath, my lady?" She inquired with a smile. I nodded and stood there, watching her leave as I was still in shock. I pinched myself to check whether I was dreaming or not, it turned out I wasn't dreaming. I couldn't believe that I had taken on the role of the villainous Iris. I smiled, delighted to be free from my mundane, draining life! Then it dawned on me that since I was now Iris, I would be the one to soon die! After giving it some thought, I came to the conclusion that if I didn't follow Iris's path, I would be able to escape her fate!

You see, in the original story, Iris is head over heels for the male lead. However, like in any other story, he hates her and is in love with the female lead. So, Iris does everything she can to eliminate the female lead and tries everything to get the male lead. And of course, there is a second male lead who competes with the male lead for the female lead. And the entire story is about the dispute between the villainess and the female lead and the fight between the first and the second male lead. But in the end, like every other story, the female lead marries the first male lead after executing the villainess. Yes, I know that this is quite cringing. Anyways, back to the story.

Before I went to take a bath, Yeona asked me, "Lady, you are going to meet his highness the Prince today, right? Which dress would you like to wear today?". "Oh right!" I exclaimed remembering that Iris would go to the royal palace every day just to greet her fiancé, the prince, she would always wear something extravagant to try and impress him. "I would like to wear something simple today, you can choose the rest", I told Yeona. "A-are you sure, Lady?!", she asked shocked, "Yes, I'm sure", I replied; she nodded and left. I began formulating a plan for my next move as I was taking a bath. I made the decision to end my engagement to the prince in the royal palace first. This was due to the fact that he was the one who killed Iris in the original plot.

I entered the dining room for breakfast and sat down. I saw Duke Winston, Iris's father, and greeted him, "Good morning, father". He looked at me, slightly shocked, but then, he smiled at me and replied, "Good morning to you too, Iris." Let me fill you up, Iris and her father didn't have a great relationship. Although both of them loved each other, they didn't show it. Iris never addressed him as 'father', instead, she addressed him formally, as 'Duke'. "Iris, you look different today, why have you dressed so simply today?" he asked me. "I just figured that I'd rather wear something comfortable and simple than wearing something extravagant and uncomfortable. I like this style more," I replied. Once again, he looked at me with surprise. But then he replied, "That's good to hear. I'm going to Edil today for some business, I'll return in three days." "Alright father, have a safe travel." He smiled and left.

A maid served my breakfast and I smiled at her and said thank you. She looked shocked since Iris isn't exactly known for being nice. She smiled at me, nodded and left. I then got into the carriage and left for the royal palace. This is the first step to changing my fate and the first step to changing my life.